Friday, October 2, 2015

Urban Food Hall @ Gurney Paragon Mall, Penang.

Urban Food Hall, a swanky-upmarket place with a collaborative effort between 5 businesses- Quiznos Sub, The Library Coffee Bar, Ichiban, Johnny Rockets and The South East on Ground Floor of Gurney Paragon Mall has recently opened its doors to the public. The space hosts 5 different food brands, which offers a mix of food from all over the world; from Western to Japanese to Oriental, one can even get the usual Cafe fare, a light Sandwich meal or even a boozy treat. One unique feature is that there will be a dancing performance every hour to entertain the diners (performed by servers in Johnny Rockets' uniform). Urban Food Hall has a huge menu at considerably high prices but there are certain areas that they could perform better and could pay more attention to- service was not attentive (extremely slow in fact), cutlery was not well-washed (greasy), tables were not cleanly-wiped, food quality not up to par etc. Urban Food Hall is located on the Ground Floor of Gurney Paragon Mall, next to Sephora and facing Kelawai Road.

Vietnamese Beef Noodles (Rm 16.90) seems promising on the menu but the actual dish was a disappointment. I was expecting Beef Pho but it turned out to be ordinary Vermicelli Noodles. Yet, no Basil, no Lime, no Hoisin sauce and Chili sauce... worst of all... no chopsticks. We had to asked for the chopsticks and it took them more than 10 minutes to bring them to me. There was a nary of Vietnamese elements, while the portion was big, it certainly did not provide the Rm 16.90 value.

Beautifully plated but their Nasi Goreng Pedas Indonesia (Rm 22.90) was purely illusory, the taste did not quite hit the mark, as though it was an ordinary plate of Nasi Campur. The Assam soup carried a hint of sweetness and acidity but it did not particularly hit us. Also, the Chilies did not manage to complement the Rice well, they were mysteriously designed to look like Sambal but did not actually taste like one. The Chicken, however, was fine but we did not like the dribble of Chili Sauce, we thought it spoiled the taste and overpowered the seasoning. If you are looking for a real meal, take your attention to somewhere else.